Tractor of the Year: the protagonists in Bologna

Case IH Optum 300 CVX as “Tractor of the Year 2017”, New Holland T5.120 as “Best Utility,” Antonio Carraro Tony 9800 TR as a “Best of Specialized” and Deutz Fahr 6215 RCshift as “Best of Design.” These are the machines awarded by the Tractor of the Year jury, composed of 24 journalists belonging to the leading European agricultural mechanization newspapers, which conferred the prestigious awards on the opening day of EIMA International. The “regina” category was won by the Case IH Optum 300 CVX - a powerful (250-300 horsepower) and sturdy tractor, yet with little impact on the soil, thanks to its compact design and low weight - which surpassed a sextet of very aggressive competitors. The list of finalists included real “heavyweights” such as the Fendt 516 Vario, the Deutz-Fahr 6215 RCShfit designed by Giugiaro (this model won the award Best of Design), the Steyr 4145 Profi CVT. It was almost a dead heat with the competition of the Zetor Forterra HD 140, the Massey Ferguson 6718S and the McCormick X8.680 VT-Drive. It was an equally tough competition in the “Best Utility” category, where the versatile New Holland T5.120 pulled ahead of a trio made up of the Massey Ferguson 5711 from Deutz-Fahr 5125 and the Case IH Luxxum 120. Compact and with first-class performance, the T5.120 model is a machine capable of successfully facing a large amount of work, be it moving materials with the front loader, road transport, or field operations. Meanwhile, the “Best of Specialized 2017” prize was assigned to the new reversible steering Tony 9800 TR from Antonio Carraro, equipped with a 87 horsepower four-cylinder Yanmar engine with a 4-range electronically controlled transmission (+ 30% capacity compared to the standard model). In this case, the specialized from the Campodarsego (Padua) team won over the BCS Volcan K105 SDT Dual Steer, the Goldoni Q 110 and the New Holland T4.110 F.